


Equalizing Forces

by Sabulum



Series: Equalizing Forces [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, BAMF Pepper, Explicit Language, F/M, Loki doesn't know WTF he just got into, M/M, Multi, OT3, Pepper Potts Is Supportive, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Sexual Content, Threesome - F/M/M, Tony Stark Has Issues, Warning: Loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-06-02
Packaged: 2017-12-10 22:51:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/791093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sabulum/pseuds/Sabulum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In hindsight, it was the best idea Tony had ever had. In hindsight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A System

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALIX! :D I know you said either Frostiron or Pepperony would suffice… and truth be told, I am more comfortable writing those, but A) I KNOW that you love your “more plausible Avengers OT3,” B) I KNOW that there is very little fic of it, and C) I ship it too! So I gave it a shot for you, or maybe four. :D Hopefully it turned out alright, because it grew out of control.
> 
>  **Title:** Equalizing Forces 1/4  
>  **Genre:** General  
>  **Rating:** M (for language, Tony and future sexytiems)  
>  **Timeline:** Post-Avengers AU-ish  
>  **Characters:** Tony, Pepper and Loki, mentions of Amora and others. OT3  
>  **Warnings:** Un-beta-ed. Minor Avenger spoilers. Also: Tony’s mouth, _Loki's_ mouth, eventual smut, discussion of polyamory (it’s pretty important) and only the barest hint of a backstory for any of it.
> 
>  **Prompt:** Pepper/Tony/Loki. Fluffy smut.

Pepper’s eyebrow when he suggested it had been nothing short of memorable.

See, he and Pepper had a system with these things. She knew him—better than anyone else, in fact, better than he did sometimes—and that meant she knew how he was. How he’d always been, ever since MIT when he was still trying to crawl out from under his father’s shadow. Genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, wasn’t he, but only two of those are personality traits, and only one is any kind of an escape—from his mind, from the constant thoughts and calculations and memories—

So, yeah. She knew what she was getting into when she took him, knew (most) everything about his baggage, and she accepted it.

They had a system.

Number one: he never brought them home for awkward conversations in the foyer, because she hated that. Number two: he never valued them more than her, _the most important fucking thing in his life_ , which was always so fucking easy up until now. And number three: he tell her about it. Always. So long as he did those things, and so long as he stayed clean and used protection, she had no problem with his little side-relationships. The few times she did were incidents he had no intention of repeating.

But…

Damn it, they had had a system! There was nothing in their agreement saying he couldn’t get attached, but he hadn’t planned for it to be like this. Which, yeah, is really not any kind of valid excuse, and goddamn it all anyway.

Pepper knew the whole sordid tale, front to back. She knew about the first meeting and how he’d nearly died (again), and the meeting after that, and the one after _that_ which had started this god-forsaken mess. She knew what happened in the weeks that they were missing; knew about the fucking crazy sorceress and mini-Hulk and how close they’d both come to dying. She knew every ounce of frustration he’d ever felt, every scrap of doubt and fear that had ever run through his mind or that he’d heard about from Fury or _Steve_ , and she’d given him a tongue-lashing herself back when it all began. She knew about Loki.

She knew. Which brings us back to the eyebrow.

“You’re serious.”

Pepper’s face suggested that she hoped he was joking, but seriously doubted it. It also suggested that, however reluctantly, she was willing to listen.

Tony thought of all the things he could say—justifications, explanations, spilling his guts about his affair with the god—and trashed all of it in favor of nodding.

“Yeah. I am.”

— — —

To say that he’d been terrified would be an understatement, because “Loki” and “terrifying” often went hand-in-hand as far as Tony was concerned, and this went way beyond that. The guy was a murderer for chrissakes. A crazy, sarcastic asshole with too many fucking issues to even count—and none of those were why he was terrified, but on the other hand, they summed his whole situation up perfectly.

Because he and Pepper had a system, and falling in love with the enemy was never part of the deal.

It took Tony surprisingly little time to come to terms that that was what it was. Possibly because he was spending ridiculously long, vaguely soap opera-ish amounts of time worrying what Pepper would say when he broke the news to her. Would she curse at him for getting involved in the first place? Would she think he’d betrayed her—which, god, he never would? Or would she understand? Tony would never acknowledge that he holed himself away in his lab for a solid 48 hours tormenting himself, but he did. Then, belatedly, like the honest-to-god self-proclaimed genius that he was, Tony realized that it didn’t even fucking matter, because _she knew already_. Of course she did. How could she not when he’d spent the past four months pouring his heart out to her about the trouble-making bastard?

She knew. Shit.

So, rather than wasting time confessing his idiocy to her (which was old news of a different sort), he opened right on up with his… dream. Wish. Ideal? Stupid foolish hope that he could have everything at the same time, that they could make it work, he’d always been greedy like that—

And Pepper heard him out. She listened calmly with that raised eyebrow of hers, and then, though she knew the whole story already, she crossed her arms and said; “Tell me more about him.”

Tony could have either kissed her or fainted with relief. He chose the former, walking in close and pressing his lips to hers, soft and slow to express his appreciation— _trying_ to be soft, trying his very best to conceal his desperation over the situation, but likely failing. When he pulled back, he could see the trepidation she felt about even considering this as an option, and it made him swallow around that knot of terror. Then he forced himself to smile and kissed her again.

“Don’t worry, it won’t be hard for you to appreciate him. He’s basically me.”

Pepper squeezed him. “I’m regretting this already.”

— — —

As attached as he had grown to Loki, the stupid lying bastard, Tony could not have risked losing the most important person in his life over an alien god. Regardless of how attractive said god was.

However, as much as he loved Pepper, it would have killed him to cut off this… deadly fragile tenuous _thing_ he had with Loki. This ill-advised, misshapen relationship that he never meant to have, and certainly never thought he’d care about so much. Tony needed Pepper, but somewhere in the last four months of fighting and stress, he and Loki had come to—need, want, crave— _rely on_ each other. Neither one dependable, both ready to fall apart at a moment’s notice, holding each other up with teeth and fingernails—except Tony had someone who could pick him up again if he fell.

Tony didn’t know if he could have everything, but he was sure as hell going to try.


	2. A Balance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why did he ever think this was a good idea? (Possibly because it was.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your reviews and kudos! I'm glad this was so well-received, because frankly I was kind of uncertain about it. Hopefully you find this chapter equally as enjoyable. :] (Although warning: Loki is an asshole.)
> 
> Also, this is now officially the first multi-chapter fic that I have posted to AO3. A sign of things to come, perhaps...?

Pepper made him no promises. That was her caveat.

She knew that Tony would rush things if he could, and so extracted his word that he would let her feel this one out—would let her get to know the man ( _supervillain_ ) he’d fallen in so deep with before making any decisions. Pepper only agreed to meet with Loki, talk to him, and think about her options. That was all.

She also made it very clear that she wouldn’t so much as sit next to him without Tony present to act as a buffer.

It was perfectly reasonable. Tony agreed like a starving man being offered a free meal, blessing every facet of Pepper’s existence.

As for Loki… well. That was another story.

Tony hadn’t expected his idea to be well-received on Loki’s end. Tony was right.

— — —

A slight stiffening in the shoulders. Sharply narrowed eyes. A subtle twitch of his hand that—okay, yeah, _that_ was a bad sign, that had been the precursor to Skurge exploding into tiny chunks. And this after he’d only suggested _meeting_ Pepper! Pepper who was important to him on another level from Loki, yeah, but who he had (more or less) honestly mentioned as being totally okay with their whatever-the-hell-it-was that he refused to call a relationship. Pepper, his hero, who he couldn’t even talk about in those months of captivity without his voice cracking. Pepper who was kind, and loyal, and honest, and a good person, and… so totally _not_ Loki’s competition, and surely he had mentioned that at some point…?

Alright, so maybe he hadn’t thought this through very well. Loki did not share well.

The god didn’t decide to smite him with a bolt of magic, though. Didn’t disappear for three days (like that one time), or scowl, or act even the least bit slighted by Tony’s request to introduce him to his other lover. Tony took it as a good sign when he only got glared at. Then again, which one of them was the god of lies exactly?

Tony flashed his playboy grin, hoping that it wasn’t about to hit the fan. “So, yeah. Dinner at my place?”

Loki’s flat stare was his only response.

“Aw, c’mon. Pepper’s good people! She’s excited to meet you, you know.”

“I’m sure,” Loki said wryly. “I come so highly recommended, after all.”

“Well, yeah. You’re recommended by me. Is there anyone higher?”

The fact that Loki just pursed his lips proved that Tony had been wrong about the glaring. Definitely, definitely not a good sign. Not when he ignored a set-up as perfect as that.

Again, Tony felt the tension of having the fate of his happiness rely completely on another person’s response—only this time that person was not a rational CEO, but rather something like the human personification of fucking things up. Loki had avoided the subject of Pepper completely prior to this. Maybe he would’ve liked to keep pretending she didn’t exist.

Sadly, that was never an option.

Tony would have liked to slink by without any actual displays of emotion, but he wanted to make this work, didn’t he? Wanted it to be _real_. He pitched his voice low. Just him and Loki.

“You’ll have to meet her eventually if you want this to stand a chance.”

The look that Loki gave him at that had no right to make him squirm the way it did. Damn it, he _knew_ that this wasn’t nothing—wasn’t unsubstantiated, wasn’t a dream—but he gritted his teeth at the doubt anyway. Loki let him stew in it for a moment before scowling, and his trapped expression was strangely comforting.

He looked pissed. Pissed off and resentful at being faced with an ultimatum, and even more pissed off because he had to agree.

“I will be there at six,” he finally said, and it sounded like a threat.

Tony had to remind himself of all the reasons why this was a good idea.

— — —

As it turned out, he needn’t have worried, because Loki and Pepper found a great hitting off point: trading embarrassing anecdotes about _him_.

Hah. Yeah, right.

Nervous bantering on Pepper’s part—her fallback in stressful situations—and half-spiteful sarcasm on Loki’s made for a very interesting first hour. And by “interesting” he meant “awkward.” Lucky they weren’t in the foyer, so technically it wasn’t breaking Pepper’s rules, but that didn’t make it any better when Tony had to sit through the painful silence that resulted from his efforts.

Even his humor didn’t break it up. They were both too used to him by now.

He could have sworn this seemed like a good idea at some point.

Tony couldn’t have expected—well, no, he _should_ have expected Loki to turn the conversation around onto Pepper. There was so much subtlety to the shift that he didn’t even notice it at first, but once he keyed in it was like switching on the suit’s HUD. After that, he somewhat expected the thinly veiled jabs and prying into her character that followed, taking a sharp turn from subtle to intrusive. He didn’t expect his intervention to mean much—tried anyway, and wasn’t surprised when all it earned him was a sharp look with far too much satisfaction in it for his peace of mind.

He fully expected when Pepper, at first polite, began to get fed up with the uncalled-for interrogation that the conversation had somehow devolved into. He wasn’t at all surprised when it then turned into a full-out argument.

Loki did not share well, and Pepper didn’t put up with anyone’s shit. How did he ever think this was a good idea?

Tony considered leaving, then decided that that would be monumentally stupid on a number of levels. Considered kicking Loki out and vetoed it immediately as reckless endangerment of his own life. Considered asking _Pepper_ to leave—yeah, not an option—and then sighed, wondering if he should try to intervene again before they started yelling.

The god’s sneer reminded Tony of all the reasons he used to hate him. “They do not have such arrangements in Ásgarðr. They would consider it obscene.” He practically spat the word.

“I think you mean ‘we,’ not ‘they,” Pepper said, earning her a look of pure fury; “and, sorry, but your frame of reference for sexuality is about a thousand years out of date. It may not be exactly common here, but the only obscene thing about it is that it involves Tony Stark.”

“Hey—”

As quickly as Loki’s rage had come, he concealed it. “Ah, yes. The famed debaucher, bedder of a thousand whores.” He gave an unpleasant smile. “Did you submit to this arrangement because you wanted to? Or can you truly sleep well, knowing that your lover has fucked another man?”

That hit Tony in the core of his doubts.

“Stop,” he cut in, voice rough. “Just— _stop_. Fuck, you already crossed the line miles back—”

“Shut up, Tony.” Pepper didn’t look away from Loki’s challenging gaze.

Tony clamped his mouth shut with a strangled sound.

He could tell by Pepper’s perfectly neutral expression that Loki had indeed crossed the line. She only ever looked like that when… well, the last time had been when a paparazzo broke into her car. Before that had been when an angry intern called her “Tony’s woman,” and implied not-so-subtly that she was a gold digger.

Damn it all, damn Loki—this was a nightmare! Tony was ready to throw _himself_ out the window just to get this colossal fuck-up over with so he could move on, try to pick up whatever pieces were left of both relationships, hopefully forget this ever happened and never let them within ten miles of each other again.

“What are you trying to prove, Loki?” Pepper asked, voice just as calm and controlled as her expression.

Loki met her gaze with narrowed eyes, shifting his stance—and, Tony suddenly realized, backing off. Face shuttering, easing off his aggressive posture, but that didn’t quell the sick feeling in Tony’s chest. The two squared off like chess players, Pepper looking every inch the formidable CEO, and Loki looking… thoughtful.

 _Calculating_?

Tony thought: what the hell.

“Tony’s told me a lot about you,” Pepper continued. “Like the fact that you’re perceptive, and very intelligent. Also that you’re a liar.” Loki’s mouth twisted in what might have been amusement. “He also told me that you’re insecure about your place, and you use anger the same way he does tasteless jokes.”

There was silence at that. Tony felt eyes boring into the side of his head, but didn’t turn to face the look of death, too busy clicking through realizations that made his heart slowly settle back into place.

“Let me make something perfectly clear, Loki: I am not a pushover. I do not take orders from Tony Stark, and if you continue to act like a jilted lover, I won’t hesitate to rescind my support for the pair of you. _But_ I will not do so unless you _make_ me, do you understand?”

For a man who had just been threatened, Loki looked terribly relieved. “You and Stark are truly in agreement about this,” he muttered.

“Of course. Tony doesn’t speak for me unless I tell him to.” Pepper had eased into her soft, comforting tone as if she’d just been waiting for the right moment.

Loki closed his eyes. “You’ve thought this through.”

“Always.”

“Then I accept your terms.”

And, though most of their apparent “negotiations” had flown right under his radar, Tony finally breathed.

— — —

Within the week, their display of dominance (as Tony insisted on referring to it, often loudly) had been all but forgotten. God only knows how it happened, but Loki started to relax around Pepper—started conversing with her as openly as Tony had ever seen, sitting down for discussions that Tony frankly never would have imagined four months ago.

Except of course that he did know how it happened, because he’d been through the same thing himself.

Tony had thought that this arrangement was necessary for his continued happiness, and he was right. He’d also had the notion that Pepper breathed life into everything she touched, and Loki could use some of that balance. But what he wouldn’t admit to considering was that he and Loki were too alike for their own good—too full of demons that twisted and clawed at their every thought; demons that they couldn’t exorcise, no matter how much they wanted to—and Pepper had a way of cutting through all the _shit_ so that they could function properly again.

During those four months together, Tony and Loki had struggled to hold each other up, whereas Pepper was strong enough to carry both of them. Then she made it so that they could stand by themselves.

They would have self-destructed without her.


	3. An Agreement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don't always go so good for Tony. But sometimes... sometimes they work out perfectly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bitch. About 1/3 of it was cut for pacing reasons, but then more stuff slowly crept in until I had to decide on writing a fourth one; I had to resist the very strong urge to slip into Pepper’s POV during a certain scene; the smut took over, and now I can’t decide if I hate it or if it fits in with the rest of the story. I guess I’ll let you guys be the judge. :P
> 
> Hopefully this doesn’t disappoint you all! And Alix… enjoy your long-awaited birthday porn.

There were times when Tony had to remind himself that this was real—that he wasn’t still trapped, caught with a not-quite-enemy in the grip of a mad sorceress, dreaming of how perfect life could be if it wasn’t so complicated. Because it _was_ complicated. It was complicated and difficult and intense, and he and Loki were assholes, and that helped keep him grounded in reality.

And if it didn’t, he could always go to Loki and get either intimidated out of his doubts or fucked into the mattress until any dream would’ve paled in comparison.

It was almost unreal, though, in a way. Tony wasn’t used to being this happy without things going horribly wrong. From the moment Pepper called Loki out on his shit to the moment Loki relaxed enough to claim a room, Tony could see his two lovers falling together naturally, and quite frankly it made him giddy. Never had he been so happy to lose an argument as when Loki and Pepper ganged up on him. He thanked Pepper every day (silently, mind you) for loving even this unconventional facet of him—made sure that she felt it, kissing her whenever the opportunity presented itself, trying his hardest to be a good man for her. Then he’d go and kiss Loki, too, just because he could, and behave like the very opposite of a good man, because Loki was equally as hungry in a way that Pepper could never fully understand.

Tony often got himself off to images of all three of them, picturing Loki writhing as he and Pepper proved their love for him, or Tony at their (complete lack of) mercy, or Loki’s skilled tongue lavishing every inch of Pepper’s body. And of course they fucking _knew_ about it—he was Tony Stark, his mouth couldn’t keep a secret like that if his sex life depended on it—

—but he never would have asked for it. Wouldn’t have dared.

Except for when it slotted so neatly into place that he didn’t even have to.

— — —

This is how it began: Amora came back.

Pepper was there.

And there. _That_ was the snag he’d been waiting for.

Tony couldn’t get to the suit in time before the sorceress was throwing him into a wall, no goon in sight, spewing (he guessed) curses in some foreign language that he had to wonder if Loki knew. The wound on her face had scarred over something awful, and he had just enough time to think “shit” before he was being introduced to his coffee table face-first. Amora’s hand was in his hair, grip strong like the goddess that she was, warm breath hissing into his ear; “Tony Stark. You don’t know how long I thought of you while I was trapped in that place.”

“Could’ve waited a bit longer to visit,” he managed, getting his face ground into the table for his efforts.

“You’ve no idea. None. Time meant _nothing_ in that void.” Recalling Loki’s hints as to the nature of her prison, Tony swallowed. “Now where is that dear brother-in-law of mine?”

“I keep telling you, Thor isn’t—”

“Will he save you?” she said lowly. “Or did he leave you all alone?”

Tony thought of his potential responses—heard Pepper getting farther away, close to the door by now, she had to be. But before he could respond, he _felt_ Amora’s smile as she leaned in close, lips brushing the shell of his ear.

“You took Skurge from me. Perhaps I should take something of yours as well?”

Everything in him went cold. “No. No, don’t!”

But he couldn’t stop it.

He didn’t know how Amora knew. Maybe she didn’t. Either way, the déjà vu was horrifying. Tony had reinforced every window in the Tower twice over, but he had since learned that such things made no difference to Amora—wouldn’t make one to Loki, either—and a flare of green magic accompanied his scream.

He’d thought you had to be dying for your life to flash before your eyes, but it happened to him when Pepper fell.

— — —

After—after the shattering glass, after his heart stopped beating— _after_ , after Loki appeared with Pepper in his arms wearing the most wrathful expression that Tony had ever seen— _after_ , when Amora was as dead as her lackey—Tony commented on the irony. Loki scowled at him, and Pepper just shook within the circle of his arms, freckles standing out vividly from deathly pale skin.

Tony’s heart still wasn’t beating quite right.

Loki pulled himself together in subtle ways, smoothing the edges that had started fraying. Then he looked at Tony and his focus narrowed immediately. “Stark.”

Tony made a sound. Tried to. Realized that he was shaking worse than Pepper; couldn’t stop. Kind of hard when most of his brain was still seeing broken glass, feeling shards in his skin and bruises on his neck and reliving a 93-story fall straight to the pavement.

“Stark. Breathe.“ Loki’s voice was hard, the tone familiar from their time imprisoned, and an instinctive part of Tony listened. “You are in safe in your Tower. The horrors that you are imagining are not real. All is well, now _inhale_.”

Tony inhaled—and it was like waking suddenly from a nightmare, the shock making him gasp as he fought to reorient himself. Not falling, no—there, in the Tower, see? Could probably even call JARVIS if he wanted to. Could probably get a drink—then he looked up straight into glittering eyes and flinched so hard he did fall, having to physically restrain himself from retreating across the floor.

It was fine. It was okay now, it was _fine_ , this wasn’t _then_ , shit. Tony hacked apart the two memories in his mind until there were miles between them, continents, and even as the god’s expression darkened in realization, he was already forcing himself to his feet and to some semblance of focus. “It’s okay, I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

Loki’s face had closed off completely. However, he was nothing if not an expert at hiding injuries, and so let it go. He turned back to Pepper, whose face was buried in his shirt—hadn’t budged from her side, Loki, good boy—and suddenly Tony had someplace pressing to be in spite of his issues. He staggered on shaky legs until he could embrace them both, breathing in the scent of Pepper’s hair, clutching Loki’s shoulder and feeling tense muscles beneath his hand.

“Pep.” His voice sounded like hell. “Are you alright?”

She gave a sound half-between a laugh and a sob. “Yeah, never better.”

Swallowing, Tony rubbed a cut on her cheek from where the glass had shattered; turned her face up to check for more wounds. Pepper met his eyes, her own full of drying tears. Nothing too bad, not there at least, but what about other places? Unbidden, Tony’s hands performed an inspection. She had almost died and what had he done about it? What _could_ he do? _Fuck_.

He wondered if Loki would still have saved Pepper if they’d never reached this arrangement. If he would have done it just for Tony’s sake, because Pepper was important to him. He thought the answer to that question was probably “no.” Then he decided he didn’t like that answer, and that it was a stupid question anyway. Didn’t matter—not when Loki was breathing just as hard as he was, holding Pepper just as tight, and _not_ a threat any longer.

Tony was only aware of Loki relaxing because he was clutching his shoulder like a lifeline.

_“Sir, shall I notify SHIELD of what has transpired?”_

Tony had never been more grateful for JARVIS’ steady voice. He tried to choke down his emotion enough to reply, but Loki spared him the effort, arms tightening around them both. “Please do.”

They pulled themselves together.

— — —

That night, it was Pepper who suggested they take the next logical step. Except by “suggest,” Tony meant this: they reached the point of having to choose which room to use, and Pepper steered all three of them into Tony’s.

He had to ask, of course, if that meant—and she silenced him with a full-mouthed kiss. Then she turned to a surprised Loki and dragged him by the hair to her level, and fuck if that wasn’t one of the hottest things Tony had ever seen. Pepper was freshly showered, but Loki was still sweaty from the battle in his blood-spattered green; he was tense, stiff as he leaned down, but he responded up to the point of resting a hand on Pepper’s hip, even that hesitant as if he wasn’t certain of its reception, and Tony had never seen him so shy and _fuck_. This was literally one of his fantasies come to life as Pepper groaned into what he knew to be a devilishly skilled mouth.

All that Tony needed right now was for this to continue. He still had to ask, though. He had to ask, because he _loved Pepper_ , whether the life-or-death experience had possibly—

Pepper shushed him with a finger to his lips, pulling back to meet his eye. Her expression was perfectly serious. “This isn’t just because of today. I want this, Tony.”

Tony swallowed thickly.

He turned to Loki for support, for a second opinion who maybe wasn’t so turned on—and the way Loki was looking at Pepper, it was how Tony looked at her sometimes. Like he didn’t know how he’d ever lived without her. Like he privately suspected that he hadn’t.

Tony remembered what it had felt like to have nothing, to be pulled out of that by a feisty redhead with an addictive smile. He also currently remembered, with vivid clarity, what it was like to almost lose that. Loki’s hands flexed on her hips, Pepper ignoring Tony completely now; she returned that longing look with one of complete tenderness and surety. “I said I always thought things through, remember?”

“So you did,” Loki said. Then he leaned down and captured her lips without hesitation this time.

Things grew more desperate from there. Clothes were torn off—mostly off of Loki, because _damn_ could Pepper take charge when she wanted—and Tony was dragged, perfectly willingly, into the tangle. He considered himself at an advantage, knowing both of them so intimately already. Before they even hit the bed he had stroked Lokl to full hardness and made Pepper gasp twice; when they fell atop it he conspired to pin Loki beneath them, and soon he was teaching Pepper how best to express the full depth of their appreciation for the god’s timely rescue.

Loki cursed fluently in multiple languages.

Pepper laughed from where she was mapping his torso, always the first one to memorize new things, and Tony bit him on the thigh teasingly, just inches from his cock. “Didn’t know what you were getting into, huh, Frosty?”

Strong as he was, the god easily extracted himself from beneath them. “Don’t—” He pushed forward, bowling Tony over. “—call me—” Pinned his hands. “—that.” And kissed him roughly, dark and intense; a sinfulness that Tony had fallen in lust with at first sight.

Distantly, Tony was aware of Pepper laughing at _him_ now, but he was to busy having his mouth dominated to do more than groan.

— — —

Loki didn’t share well. However, once he had claimed something he would go to extremes on its behalf. Sometimes that involved stabbing a sorceress through the chest; sometimes it just involved putting his talents to good use in giving Pepper a screaming orgasm.

Tony was a willing recruit. He suckled her nipples, rubbed and caressed her breasts, nipped at her neck and collar-bone—but half of his attention was shot, because every time Loki made her keen like that he remembered that mouth around his cock and couldn’t stop from grinding into the mattress. Soon he was making whining noises of his own and pulling back. “Shit, that’s not fair.”

Pepper answered for him, as Loki was otherwise occupied. “What’s—not—ah! Fair?”

“I’m not even the one he’s doing that to, and it’s still getting me off.”

He heard Loki chuckle. It made Pepper inhale a shuddering breath—god, he could just imagine what that felt like. “Try being—nh— _me_.”

“I have,” Tony groaned, and sank back to wrap his mouth around her nipple. Something Loki did made her scream and buck up, and Tony grunted, but focused on his task of giving her as much pleasure as possible. Pepper deserved to become well-acquainted with that tongue. Have it play with her clit, slip in and out of her, curling roughly—draw out those aborted syllables, both of their names broken up into incoherent sounds that grew higher and higher.

Pepper was the one who came, but Tony’s eyes rolled back in bliss. Good god.

This was the best idea he’d ever had.

By the time _he_ had recovered from _Pepper’s_ orgasm, giving one last lick to the nipple he had come within moments of biting, Pepper was still gasping and Loki was wiping his slick mouth, giving Tony the filthiest look that he had ever seen.

“Stark.” His voice was practically a growl. “Waiting for your turn?”

Tony replied, succinctly; “Fuck.”

He _pounced_ on Loki, bearing the god down to the mattress and creating more work for that mouth, tasting Pepper and groaning. Loki’s breath hitched, but that wasn't enough for the hell he'd put Tony through. His hips worked, Tony pulling the taller man up, dragging him, Loki complying—shifting him into a position where they could slide together, Loki twitching up into him with an aborted curse.

“If you’re going to take me, Stark, then do it properly.” The threat was belied by his eyes closing, head falling back to bare the long curve of his neck, and Tony’s hips shuddered.

“You act so domineering and then you go and do things like that.” Tony panted. “Not fucking fair.”

In response, Loki ground up into him obscenely.

The bed shifted as Pepper joined them, gaze fixated. Her breathing was even now, and she gave a coy smirk. “Tony. What was that you were saying earlier about showing our appreciation?”

Loki’s eyes rolled to her. He panted, and as she dove in to lick along his jugular, slow and deliberate, his eyes slammed closed again with a cut-off whimper. Tony responded by shifting to grind against him more solidly, resting his hands against his chest—and once again he was complicit in driving one of his partners to madness, except consensus was Loki was there already. Normally Loki was vocal as hell, but he choked off every sound this time, writhing just as Tony had always imagined him doing under him and Pepper. She seemed enamored of his jawline, biting and placing kisses along it, along his neck, until Loki swore at them both.

“By the Nine, Stark, if you—”

Tony cut him off by grabbing both their dicks and stroking roughly, wringing the first real sound from Loki’s throat: a strangled cry. That was too much for Tony, who came suddenly and grating Loki’s name like an oath.

He lost sight of things for a moment, then—twitched to a halt—but when he took too long, Pepper finished things for him, bringing Loki off with a swift jerk and a word whispered into the hollow of his throat.

— — —

After, Tony cleaned them up. Then he dived straight into the traditional cuddling.

As always, Loki tried to slip out of the embrace before he had even gotten started. Tony found his escape much easier to halt when Pepper was involved—but then, she had a way of getting people to do things they didn’t want to, or that they would never admit to wanting. The god huffed as he escaped Tony’s arm only to roll into Pepper, who trapped him with a coy smile. “Planning on going somewhere?”

“Nah, he’s just like this,” Tony answered for him. “Pretends he doesn’t like it, but he won’t sleep otherwise.”

Loki scowled. “I do not enjoy sleeping in close proximity to others.”

“Because of the nightmares.” This time Loki actually _flinched_ and grabbed his neck, a murderous glint in his eye—but unlike before, Tony didn’t panic, didn’t have any flashbacks; didn’t react at all beyond a lecherous grin. “See, like I said! Domineering. How can you be such a bottom when you’re so aggressive the rest of the time?”

Pepper had to intercede before an argument ensued.

Eventually, however, the god reluctantly settled between the both of them, Pepper’s coaxing strangely effective in getting him to cooperate. Then, as always, Tony wrapped an arm around him—and as always, Loki held for only a few moment before going limp, the tension that he held like armor draining out of him until he was the most relaxed he’d ever be.

Pepper’s arm slowly crept around his other side, brow creased. She eyed Loki assessingly, as if he were a complicated problem she couldn’t quite figure the solution to—and Tony shrugged.

Hell if he knew. But if anyone could figure the bastard out, it would be Pepper.

Loki frowned with his eyes closed. “Cease thinking about me so loudly.”

So Tony did.

Instead, he settled down into the mattress and threw a leg over Loki to pin him there. He took a moment to appreciate just how lucky he was. And then he went to sleep, contenting himself that this was the best idea he'd had since asking Ms. Virginia Potts to interview for a job at Stark Industries.


	4. A Job Well Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luckily, Pepper is adept at sorting through bullshit. It works out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gave me so... much... trouble!
> 
> I could ramble on, but you don't care. Suffice it to say: the unpublished bits from this chapter (along with deleted snippets and ideas from other chapters) will find their way into my new project eventually, so you can see all the stuff that didn't make it in here! Said project will consist mostly of the 30 Day OTP Porn Challenge, but will contain other OT3 oneshots as well. Basically it's a dump for all my rejected scenes from this fic, so be sure to [check it out](https://archiveofourown.org/works/827827). :]
> 
> It's been a crazy ride, and I thank you for all your support. I hope you enjoyed my attempt at this pairing, because it was fun on this end. :]
> 
> Now I leave you with angst, feels and porn. (Until next time~)

Tony awoke that night from a nightmare, sliding into consciousness with a blink and a careful, hard-earned stillness. Flat on his back, he exhaled and stared into the darkness, sticky with sweat.

But he knew where he was. Those weeks had won him that much.

Loki was half-curled atop him, long limbs sprawled everywhere and dark hair tickling his nose. His skin was refreshingly cool. Another hand brushed Tony’s shoulder—warmer, soft—and he peered past Loki, breathing measured as he (strained) sought to catch a glimpse of what he dreamt he’d finally lost.

Pepper slept on, peaceful. Wonderfully, breathtakingly _alive_.

Her face was gentle after the day’s tension, her body pressed into Loki’s in some combination of big spoon and protective mama bear. She always grew too warm when cuddling with Tony, he knew, but Loki was like a portable air-conditioner—and for once, miraculously, Loki was not twitching or frowning in his sleep, but actually seemed content. Tony was the only one with the nightmares this time. All was well.

Satisfied, he dozed off again.

When he awoke a second time, it was to Pepper mumbling into his shoulder and Loki nowhere to be found.

— — —

When he turned up, half a day later, Loki didn’t acknowledge his disappearance from their bed. Nor did he acknowledge the night’s events, or the way he’d looked at Pepper in that naked moment, or his viciousness in dispatching Amora, or indeed anything at all.

Things had changed—permanently, irrevocably—between the three of them, but Loki didn’t seem to know how to handle that, and so he… ignored it. Denied its existence. Tony supposed he shouldn’t be surprised, but it put them right back to the beginning, when Pepper was a potential threat to catalog. Tony didn’t like it, and his initial mistake in trying to talk about it led to Loki closing off completely. He liked that even less.

It was like a slap to the face after all they’d been through.

If anything, he’d have expected _Pepper_ to be the uncertain one. Pepper who had always accepted his non-monogamy, but who had never shown any desire to participate; she surprised him by taking to it comfortably, as if it was a given that Loki would’ve joined them eventually. She had no compunctions at all. (One night, as he held her, she confessed that it was something she’d considered ever since she learned about their relationship. In retrospect, it made all his worrying seem stupid.)

Loki, on the other hand—well. It made sense, but part of Tony had expected something more than this. He didn’t know why. Loki had had a hard enough time letting _Tony_ in, and that was when he had no choice; he’d still almost crumbled first. This time he wasn’t cornered, and Pepper was far more than Tony could ever be.

Loki had flat-out said they didn’t do things like this on Asgard. Had made clear, through actions and reactions and words left unsaid, that honest-to-god _intimacy_ was an issue for him. It was fine when Pepper was just a confidant—but now that it was clearly more, now that he’d revealed his _need_ , it was obvious that part of him wanted nothing more than to run. Run while he was still able, before he got in too deep with these fragile, short-lived creatures. Before he fell completely and had to trust that they’d be there to catch him.

Of course, it was already far too late for that, but Tony understood that such fear wasn’t always logical. Wasn’t necessarily _sane_. (Was inherently self-defeating.)

Tony understood, and that was the only reason he didn’t snap with frustration when Loki turned into an irritating asshole: because that would prove his fears right, and make things so much worse.

Tony didn’t let it feed his doubts when Loki slept apart from them that night. Tried not to think about it at all beyond “he’s a dickwad,” despite that it felt like they’d taken two gigantic steps backward. He just sat back, watched as Pepper slid the puzzle pieces together, and endured. Tony was justified in calling himself a genius, but Loki’s problems were ones that he was not capable of solving—were too close to his own; too uncomfortable for him to examine too closely—and so he left it to Pepper, who was a genius in her own right. She was certainly the most stable of them, and Loki trusted her in a way he did no one else.

In the meantime, there were days of uncomfortable distance. A fractured version of normality. Loki almost-but-not-quite as cold as he had been, dealing with whatever nightmares came to him alone; Tony trying to ignore the awkwardness, but unable to resist snarky comments; Pepper alternately giving Loki space and forcing him into conversations about it.

There was an argument at one point.

Loki flat-out disappeared at one point.

Pepper waited, and Tony waited, and he _ached_.

Then, finally—sooner than Tony had expected, but longer than he would’ve liked—they worked it out.

— — —

They talked. Sat down and hashed things out as they hadn’t since Amora’s death.

Loki listened.

And Tony was put in the unenviable position of having to explain his feelings in a way that Loki would understand.

Before, for Tony (as he explained hesitantly), the polyamory had been about satisfying a need. About wanting too much. When it started, he’d had too much shit in his life for any one person to handle—had been a kid too young for college, full of angst and baggage that no partner wanted to have to deal with, and so he… divided it. Split it up between as many people as possible. But at some point that changed, because he was still too much for them to handle; it became about them instead of him. About desiring closeness. Even when he found Pepper, when he realized that she was all he needed, he still loved the _dynamics_ he had with other people. Loved how things could be so different from day to day, person to person. He found, eventually, that Loki fulfilled every other desire he might have had.

The look the god fixed him with at that made him cringe. “Yeah, well. No-one ever said I couldn’t be cheesy,” he muttered sheepishly.

Pepper shook her head, tutting at them.

Then she explained her side of it.

For her, it had started with seeing how desperate Tony was over their relationship—and letting him have it. From there, she had come to care for Loki until she couldn’t imagine him leaving any more than Tony could. The rest only seemed logical, she concluded.

She used her stern voice so that the God of Lies and Insecurity could have no doubts as to her meaning, and stared him down until he acquiesced.

“As you say,” he finally said, reluctant.

As for Loki—he never said what it meant to him. But his clenched jaw spoke volumes, and the desire burning in the backs of his eyes told all the rest.

Pepper smiled fondly. “If you leave again, I will end you.”

Loki bowed his head in what could pass for a nod, but Tony knew to be no less than abject submission.

— — —

Tony didn’t know if it was predetermined or just a natural consequence of how things had played out. Either way, Pepper found herself in charge that night, and Tony gave up control willingly.

Then again, it wasn’t for him.

In truth, Loki probably could’ve broken the restraints easily—was a god, for fuck’s sake; had gone toe-to-toe with _the Hulk_ and come out the other side—but the fact that he didn’t said something. Tony didn’t know what, exactly. Pepper probably could’ve named it; personally, Tony was too distracted with watching him tense and writhe, breath hissing on every exhale, trying with all that stubborn pride of his not to lose control.

As for _what_ he was controlling, Tony didn’t know that, either—but he was going to go with lust as opposed to the more troubling alternatives.

Yeah. Lust was good. Definitely.

He sat at Loki’s feet, satisfied for now to rub up and down the length of his calves, eyes fixed on every movement of Pepper’s fingers across his skin.

Loki’s muscles strained with the tension of not snapping the handcuffs, eyes clenched shut around what looked like either pain or intense pleasure. His breath came ragged; every tender stroke or kiss placed upon his flesh may as well have been a lash for how he reacted, twitching, cutting off moans and curses with equal fervor. Tony had wondered, before, why he struggled so hard to remain silent; now he was just waiting for the moment when all that tension finally broke. If it were possible to die from too much tenderness, Tony imagined it would look something like this. Pepper had paid no more than passing attention to his erection, yet Loki was about to come undone under her hands, arching his back into her touch; muscles practically vibrating with every gentle kiss, every touch of lips to his cheek or eyes or forehead.

Eventually he hissed; “Please.” It sounded wrung from him.

“Please what?” Pepper’s hands continued mapping slow trails down Loki’s chest, eyes intent upon his closed ones.

After a few moments more—stubborn silence; the last of his resistance, Tony guessed—Loki made a sound equal parts defeated and desperate. “If you make me beg for it, Virginia, then I will never forgive you.” His eyes snapped open and locked on hers, betraying him with the need implicit in them. She stroked down his thigh, idly, and he keened low in his throat.

“I think you would,” she said.

Loki cursed, eyes rolling back in his head as she still refused to take him in hand, but bent to suckle at a spot on his neck that she knew to be sensitive. Loki’s fists clenched, curling about the cuffs, twisting; he gasped, panted, but held himself motionless with a force of will that left Tony impressed.

Tony, he was sure, had never brought the god even close to this. Only Pepper would have dared.

Tony had by now lost track of time, but he estimated it was a good hour now. He had long since begun stroking himself to the sight of Pepper laying the god bare, gaze transfixed as she caressed his thighs and kissed along the curve of his throat. Only a few more seconds and Loki finally snapped; writhed beneath her fingertips, bucked up and _groaned_. “Virginia—Pepper— _please_ , by the Nine, I beg you.” Pepper rocked against him and he gasped, tossing his head, his whole body shuddering.

“There,” she breathed in satisfaction, smiling. She chuckled with a hint of wryness; then she lifted up and, in one smooth motion, took him into her. Loki’s eyes flew open, surprise etched into every feature. Clearly he had not been expecting that.

Neither had Tony.

Pepper moved, drawing a low hiss from him. “You know, Loki, that if you ever shut down again, I’ll have to teach you another lesson.” She punctuated this with a roll of her hips, eyes boring into his pointedly. Tony caught his breath.

“Yes,” Loki managed; a choked moan.

“And,” she continued, “it will not be anywhere near as enjoyable for you next time.”

“ _Yes_.” He whimpered, throwing his head back, bucking up into her desperately. He gave up fighting at all now; control lost to him, finally, after a long and painful struggle. Tony was sure he wasn’t alone in his feeling of victory.

“Good. Because I hate repeating myself.” Pepper leaned down to kiss Loki forcefully, then bowed her head to breathe against his throat. For all that she was riding him, she was not any less in command now than she had been, and they all knew it.

Tony wasn’t surprised when Loki finally snapped the handcuffs. He was only surprised that it took so long.

— — —

Tony ended up having to finish himself off, but… well. He didn’t mind so much. Because _fuck_.

Anyway, they made it up to him later; Pepper still smiling and Loki being remarkably gentle for once. Every touch was a vindication of his reckless, foolhardy idea.

And if Loki didn’t exactly become an open book overnight, he was at least smart enough never to hide from Pepper again.

— — —

They had a system.

Tony was the passion and the _humor_ ; was the inappropriate joke that broke up the tension, holding the frayed edges together just when you thought that they were about to snap. Was the constant lust for life; the drive to keep going because he’d never learned how to do anything else.

Loki was the knife’s edge. The glint of steel held up as a barrier against all of life’s atrocities, protecting the soft and vulnerable parts within. Was the cutting retort; the self-deprecation with a shade of truth behind it; the black humor so wry that you still had to laugh, because it cut to the heart of things.

And Pepper was… what made life worth living. Was the insight and hope; the knowledge that there was always something to go back to, and that even if there wasn’t, you could always build it back up again. She was the _true_ strength, beyond magic or superpowers or Arc Reactors; was the rock that you could fall back on, and the ungentle hand that forced you to deal with things yourself.

Pepper steadied him, grounding him in the fact that life didn’t always go to shit; and Loki was like a mirror into all the darkest parts of himself, and the hope that he found there made Tony feel that he could be worth something.

To Tony, it was perfect.

They spent many months learning each other, slowly breaking down the collective barriers between them. The nightmares didn’t go away overnight, and neither did SHIELD.

But they were together. They were healing, and all in all, Tony congratulated himself on a job well done.

It really was the best idea he’d ever had.


End file.
